268 BULLETIN 130, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



washed out and the bird hung up by the neck in the icehouse to keep, evert 

 until the geese have arrived the next spring. Tlie flesh, when thawed out 

 slowly, has lost all the rank taste, and, in my opinion, is much improved by 

 the freezing process. 



I have eaten the flesh of all the various kinds of geese, frequenting those 

 northern regions, and place them in value of flesh as follows : white-fronted 

 goose, A. albifrons gamhelU; white-cheeked goose, B. canadensis hutchinsii 

 and B. canadensis minima; Canada goose, B. canadensis; black brant, B. 

 nigricans, is always tough and lean, fit food only for a Russian ; snow 

 goose, Chen hi/perhoretis, is scarcely fit for food, except in cases of neces- 

 sity. Its flesh is coarse, rank, and has a decidedly unpleasant odor ; the 

 emperor goose, P. canagica, is scarcely to be thought of as food. There is a 

 disgusting odor about this bird that can only be removed in a degree, and 

 then only by taking off the skin and freezing the body for a time. Even, 

 this does not rid the flesh entirely of strong taste. 



Winter. — According to Grinnell, Bryant, and Storer (1918) : 



The principal winter home of the emperor goose is on the seacoast of south- 

 western Alaska, and only stragglers reach California. But it is probable- 

 that if all the emperor geese ever observed in California had been recorded, 

 it would be found that almost every year one or two of the birds had 

 made their way within our borders. At least 10 definite instances of the 

 occurrence of the emperor goose in this state are known. In spite of the 

 fact that this is a marine species, most of the records are from the interior 

 valleys. Mr. Vernon Shepherd, a taxidermist of San Francisco, informs us 

 that he has known of the capture of at least a dozen specimens of this goose 

 since 1906. 



The emperor goose flies in pairs or in small flocks of 4 or 5. A juvenile killed 

 at Gridley, Butte County, was alone, being the second in a flock of white- 

 fronted geese. One taken near Modesto, Stanislaus County, came to the 

 blind alone. Another taken near Davis, Yolo County, had been noted alone 

 in the same pond for three weeks previous to capture. This species is said 

 to be shyer than any other goose except the black sea brant. 



DISTRIBUTION 



Breeding range. — On the northwest coast of Alaska, from the 

 mouth of the Kuskokwim River northward to the north side of 

 the Seward Peninsula (Cape Prince of Wales, Cape Espenberg, 

 and Deering), On St. Lawrence Island and on the northeast coast 

 of Siberia, from East Cape westward at least as far west as Koliut- 

 schin Bay. 



Winter range. — Mainly in the Aleutian Islands. East along the 

 Alaska Peninsula at least as far as Sanakh Island and Bristol Bay 

 and probably to Cook Inlet, straggling farther south and casually 

 to California. West to the Commander Islands and perhaps 

 Kamchatka. 



Spring migration. — Early dates of arrival in Alaska: Pribilof 

 Islands, St. George, April 26; Nushagak River, May 5; Yukon 

 Delta, May 22 ; Cape Prince of Wales, May 19. 



